Final Vow
by smkfan66
Summary: Steve investigates a serial killer / Jack, Amanda and Mark help out.


Final Vow ****

TITLE: FINAL VOW

DISCLAIMER: The characters are owned by Viacom, CBS, and the writers and creators of the show. I am using these characters with the full knowledge that I did not create them. No infringement intended. I'm just having fun with them. Thanks Mary for all your help! 

  
Rating: PG 

AUTHOR: Shari

SUMMARY: Steve investigates a serial killer / Jack and Amanda help out.

TIME FRAME: AU / Amanda is no longer married / Jack is still at CG

FEEDBACK: Sure.

****

FINAL VOW

"Hi, Mark!" Amanda breezed in the door, balancing the diaper bag and C.J. in one arm and her contribution for dinner in the other.

"Here, let me help you with that!" Mark rushed over to help, completely bypassing her dinner contribution in favor of relieving her of C.J.

Amanda smiled, shaking her head, "How did I know that is what you would offer to help me with?"

"What?" Mark said grinning and looking up at her innocently as he sat down at the table, all the while making faces at the smiling baby.

"By the way, where's Jack?" Mark inquired as he continued to play with the now giggling baby.

"He's not going to make it. He had to pull a double shift. Dr. Matthews called in sick," Amanda rattled off as she put a covered dish in the refrigerator. 

"Speaking of missing persons…where's Steve?" Amanda inquired as she went about putting the finishing touches on dinner as Mark remained distracted with entertaining C.J.

Taking his attention briefly away from the baby, "He's around here somewhere." With a slight frown, "Come to think of it, I asked him to go get me a bottle of wine about an hour ago." Gathering up the baby, Mark and Amanda made their way into the living room. "I don't know what could be keeping him."

Amanda stopped abruptly. "Shhh…be quiet or you'll wake him up," she motioned, toward the sleeping form of Steve sprawled out on the too small couch and cradling the unopened bottle of wine.

"Too late," grumbled the slightly grouchy and thoroughly tired homicide detective. Glancing at his watch, "I'm sorry, Dad. I was just so tired I thought I'd just sit and rest just a minute before dinner." Sitting up, he rested his weary, aching head in his hands.

Concerned, Mark went over to him, "Are you feeling all right?"

Amanda leaned over, brushing her hand over his forehead, "You do feel kind of warm. If you're not feeling up to dinner, we can do this another night," she hastened to assure him.

"No, I'm fine. Just tired from all the overtime I've been putting in," he protested, gently brushing her hand aside and smiling up at her.

Sitting down on the edge of the couch, her curiosity peaked, "What case?"

Mark handed off the giggling C.J. to Steve, "He's been working on the "Newlywed Murders" as the papers are referring to them now," he said with a sad shake of his head, both in disgust at the cold-blooded murders and the way the newspapers were sensationalizing it.

"Oh, isn't that the case I've been reading about where three couples have been murdered right after they were married? Do you have any leads yet?" Amanda said, leaning over and retrieving the file Steve left laying on the coffee table and beginning to review it.

"Yes, that's the one," Steve said, briefly trying to forget the nightmare of a case while he gently swayed the now sleepy baby. "And no, we don't have any leads yet. And that is what is so frustrating! We have checked every possible connection between the three murdered couples and have come up with nothing. The only thing these three couples have in common is that the female of each of the couples is either black or Asian and the male is caucasion. But that's it. And I'm not even sure that is a connection because there's nothing to indicate that the murders were racially motivated." 

Mark leaned forward, "Did you check out the caterers and photographers and anyone else involved behind the scenes in planning the wedding?" he inquired.

Grinning inwardly at his Dad's enthusiasm, "No, Dad," he dead-panned. "Why didn't I think of that?" 

Grinning sheepishly, Mark laughed, "I guess that was the first thing you checked, right. Sorry."

"That's okay, Dad. I know you just want to help and right now it might help to get a fresh perspective on it. So far, I've checked with the caterers, the wedding planners, the churches, the florists, the limo drivers, the reception halls, the wedding photographers, the wedding parties, the jewelers where the couples purchased their wedding rings, the clerk's office where they obtained their licenses and even the doctor's office where they had their blood work done and we've come up with nothing…there are no common links to any of the three couples that we've found so far. I've checked their jobs and even as far back as to where they went to school and nothing." he finished with a discouraged shrug of his shoulders.

"There has to be something," Mark continued. "What else would there be in common?" he mused out loud.

Amanda was studying the contents of the file when a newspaper clipping fell out. Picking it up, she studied the young, obviously in love couple, in the engagement announcement. Suddenly, she shouted, "That's it…Steve, you said you checked the wedding photographers, right? What about the photographer that took the engagement photo? Often it is not the same photographer that would do both. Or what about someone at the newspaper where the announcement was printed? Do you think someone there might have a problem with mixed race marriages?"

Grinning tiredly up at her, "Yeah, we checked out the photographers, both wedding and engagement and came up with nothing so far. As far as the newspaper is concerned, the announcements were printed in several newspapers and there were two common ones for all three couples but so far nothing has turned up in the background checks on any of the employees. But I expect that could take weeks to finish up and I'm afraid we don't have that long if this person decides to strike again."

Taking in his son's tired demeanor, Mark clapped his hands together, "Well, I say let's eat and finish discussing this over dinner. Amanda, why don't you bring that file in here and we can go over it while we're eating."

Smiling, Steve laughed, "Sounds like a plan to me," he said transferring the now sleeping CJ to his other arm and getting up, offering his other hand to Amanda to help her up.

"Umm…earth to Amanda" Steve teased as Amanda remained engrossed in the autopsy reports contained in the files.

"What. Oh, sorry. But Steve, did you notice in these autopsy reports that while all three couples were shot…that was the only injury except for --look at this-- the left hand was crushed or broken on each of the three women."

"What are you getting at?" he questioned just as his mind also started to focus in on the direction she was taking.

"Exactly," Mark exclaimed. It's not the wedding you should be focusing on. It's the engagement. Steve, do you know where the engagement ring was purchased for these three couples?"

"No, but I'm gonna find out right now," he said re-energized for the first time in several weeks, "I'm gonna take a raincheck on dinner. I want to follow up on this now," he said handing off CJ and heading out the door.

*******

"Hi, Jack." Amanda said as she entered the doctor's lounge the following morning. "What's going on?"

Looking up from the chart he was signing, Jack smiled a weary smile at his co-worker, "Now…nothing. Last night was a different story," he said with a yawn.

"I take it that it was pretty busy around here and you didn't get any sleep last night?" she commented, taking note of his rumpled and exhausted appearance.

Yawning again, "Yeah. We had a another couple brought in with gunshot wounds." Discouraged, he ran his hands through his hair, "Man, Amanda, I really thought we had a chance to save them but they just lost too much blood before we got to them." 

Reaching over to lay a comforting hand on his shoulder, "Jack, you did your best and we know Steve is going to do his best to stop this creep too. Although, he was pretty discouraged earlier last night. I wonder how he's taking this new development," she wondered out loud.

Jack looked up at her, "Not too well I'm afraid," he said grinning slightly, indicating the pair coming toward the door, "Steve slammed his fist into the wall after the second victim coded," he finished explaining quickly before they reached the doorway.

"Steve, you really need to go home and get some rest and take the pain medication," Mark finished lecturing his son, ushering him through the doorway and toward the coffeepot.

"Dad, I can't right now. This freak is out there killing innocent people. I can't just sit by and let someone else get killed," he lashed out in frustration.

"Steve, first you are not "letting" someone else get killed. If you don't get any rest, you are not going to be any good to anybody," Mark strictly admonished him, handing him a cup of coffee in his unbandaged hand and steering him toward a chair.

"I know, I know, Dad. I'm sorry," Steve admitted with a rueful grin.

Jack quickly grabbed the newspaper off the table, hoping to slip it off the table before Steve could see the newspaper's most recent sensational headline concerning last night's double murders which read "POLICE POWERLESS AGAINST KILLER". 

Steve looked over at him, "Too late, Jack, I already saw it and no, I'm not planning on doing anything stupid again like say slamming my fist into a wall," he finished with a wry smile. 

"Let's hope not." Jack commented with a grin before gathering up the rest of his charts and heading toward the sofa to complete signing off on them. "I think I'm gonna finish up and call it a night or a day whatever the case may be, guys," Jack yawned as he was even too tired to think straight, much less contribute to the conversation. 

"Look, Steve, we know you and the department are doing everything possible to solve this case. Did you find out any common factors concerning the engagement rings?" she asked.

"No, nothing. Again," he said with a sigh, before taking a drink of his coffee.

"So, maybe you do need to focus on the fact that this is random and the only common denominator may be the race issue. What if it is a racially motivated attack and that's the common link," Mark finished her thought as he sat down at the table with Steve and Amanda.

"Well, we are already doing background checks on several known felons in the area with that particular MO but other than that, unless this creep makes a mistake and soon, we are right back at ground zero," Steve said slamming his coffee cup down on the table.

Mark looked over at Amanda, seeing the same idea dawning on her as she nodded, "So what if we don't wait to choose his next victims? Why don't we choose them for him?" Amanda and Mark both finished the sentence at the same time, looking expectantly at Steve.

Seeing where they were heading as they glanced at Jack who apparently had fallen asleep amid the charts, "Wait a minute, you guys, no way. This is way too dangerous," he began.

"Listen, Steve, you yourself said that it appears this person's attacks are random and the only common factor is the mixed race marriage issue," Amanda argued as Mark nodded in support.

"So what if Jack and I get engaged," Amanda hurried to finish as she saw a glimmer of a chance to convince Steve to go along with their plan, "and try to set ourselves up as the next victims."

"Amanda," Steve started to interrupt.

"You know, Steve, that's not a bad idea," Mark interjected. "This way if whoever it is that is behind these attacks is familiar at all with his victims, then the fact that Amanda and Jack are co-workers would make him less likely to suspect a trap. It would be just another story of two co-workers falling in love," Mark finished.

"I don't know, Dad. This could get dangerous. There's no guarantee that this guy will pick Amanda and Jack as his next victims and what about C.J., Amanda?," Steve protested.

Amanda laid a gentle hand on his arm, "Steve, I know, but what better plan do you have right now and we can't let this person get away with this again," she finished earnestly, fully aware of the danger. "My parents have been begging for me to let CJ come spend some time with them, so once the wedding date approaches, I'll take him over there."

"Besides," Mark contributed, "whoever is doing this just might pick them and then we'll have him."

Running his hand across his face, Steve gave in, "Okay, Okay…you win. I'll talk to headquarters and see what we can arrange. This could get kind of expensive because in case you didn't realize it, Amanda, not only do you have to get engaged, but you have to go the whole nine yards and get married," he said watching her as it started to sink in what she had volunteered to do. "All of the couples were either murdered on their honeymoon or shortly upon their return," he finished. "We'll need to make this as close to the real thing as possible. No one but us and as few people at the station as possible can know that this is not the real thing. "

Mark motioned toward the sleeping doctor, "There might be one other problem. No one asked Jack over there if he was willing to do this."

Opening one eye slightly, Jack laughed softly, "Not exactly the way I imagined I would propose, but," rising wearily to his feet he walked over to the table and knelt down beside Amanda, noticing the two nurses just entering the lounge. Shrugging his shoulders, he figured what better way to start the rumor mill going. Gently grabbing her hand, he continued, "Amanda, you are the most beautiful, generous and loving person I have ever known. Will you do me the honor of becoming my wife," he finished flashing his famous grin up at her, noticing her slightly shocked expression and motioning with a slight nod of his head toward the gawking nurses.

Stammering nervously at first as she fully realized now what this was going to entail and the fact that it might force her to face some emotions she had been trying to ignore, she smiled and softly whispered, "Yes." Lost for a moment in Jack's intense gaze, she then looked up and started to laugh as she watched the nurses hurriedly turn around and leave. Turning toward Steve, "You better get this approved now or you're gonna answer to me," she said with a weak smile to soften the threat.

Helping Jack to his feet, she finished "Come on, Romeo, we've got a wedding to plan because this is going to be the fastest engagement in history." Grabbing his hand, she led a groaning and exhausted Jack out the door as he muttered, "Hey, we're not even married yet and she's ordering me around." 

Steve looked over at his Dad who had been watching the whole exchange in amusement. "I sure hope we know what we are doing," Steve said with a frown as he watched the "happy couple" exit.

***

Jack nervously pulled at the collar of his tux as he stood at the front of the chapel, turning to his best man, "Steve, I sure hope all this effort is worth it," he grumbled softly, not willing to admit how caught up he had actually been in the preparations. 

Steve smiled, thinking Amanda would have made a great drill sergeant. He almost laughed out loud as he thought of the hoops Amanda had Jack jumping through with all the rushed wedding preparations in the past two weeks.

"Don't worry, Jack, it'll all be worth it if this works," Steve commented. "Short of having a big wedding party, we did everything exactly like any other couple, right down to the blood tests and license."

"You better be…" Jack's voice trailed off and he swallowed hard as he took in the vision slowly approaching down the aisle, escorted by Mark.

Steve's eyes widened, "Wow."

"Exactly," Jack seconded.

Mark leaned over and whispered in Amanda's ear as he walked her down the aisle, "I think you've made an impression," as he indicated with a nod of his head toward the two men staring down the aisle.

Amanda smiled in satisfaction and laughed nervously, "I think you're right," she whispered back. Taking in the sight of Jack standing at the altar, she tripped slightly and hesitated.

Mark looked at her with a concerned glance, "Don't worry, Amanda," Mark laughed gently as he continued to almost lead her down the aisle, "Steve took care of everything. There's nothing to be nervous about as far as the wedding is concerned." It then dawned on him that she may have realized just how much danger she would be in if they went ahead with this. He stopped and turned to assure her, "You know, Amanda, we can just call this whole thing off, if you want."

Jack shot a worried glance at Steve as he noticed Mark and Amanda stop halfway down the aisle. He turned and started to go down the aisle. 

Realizing Amanda might be having second thoughts, Steve stopped him with a hand on his shoulder, "Wait. Let Amanda decide on her own if she wants to go through with this."

Amanda looked up at Mark for a moment, before glancing down the aisle, feeling Jack's questioning gaze. She smiled softly and nodded her head to let him know she was okay, watching as he visibly relaxed. He smiled gently at her as she once again proceeded down the aisle.

The next few minutes passed in a blur. The minister cleared his throat again as the couple continued to gaze at each other, "Jack, I said 'You may now kiss the bride'" he again declared.

Jack started forward as Steve nudged him from behind, nearly knocking Amanda over. 

Grabbing her gently whether to steady himself or her, he wasn't sure, Jack leaned forward as Amanda nervously moistened her lips, before finally pressing his lips tenderly to hers. Amanda reached up and placed her arms around his neck. Startled by the rush of emotions released by this briefest of contacts, he started to pull back, before giving in and leaning forward again and deepening the kiss.

Clearing his throat, the minister coughed, looking at his watch and then at Steve. Steve rolled his eyes and again nudged Jack to gain his attention.

"Wow," Amanda thought, still reeling from the kiss and trying to gather her composure. 

Finally, ready to press on, the minister droned, "May I present, Jack and Amanda Stewart." 

****

The unassuming man sat on the park bench with the torn picture from the society page grasped in one hand. Throwing scraps of bread to the gathering pigeons, he muttered to himself, "They just never learn do they?" Shaking his head sadly, he gathered up his belongings and shuffled away. "This one may be a little trickier than the others, but nothing worth doing is ever easy, now is it," he continued on with his mindless ramblings as he moved toward his car.

****

"Okay, guys, we'll be right next door," Steve again went over the details with Jack and Amanda on what to do in case of trouble. 

"Don't worry, Steve," Jack commented, "I think we've got it covered," he finished yawning widely. "Do you mind letting us get some sleep now. Getting married takes a lot out of a man you know," he finished grinning as he flopped back onto the bed.

Jack jumped up as a knock sounded at the door and Steve instinctively reached for his gun, drawing it and motioning to Amanda to approach the door as he backed out of sight of the doorway.

With a glance at Steve to make sure he was ready, "Yes, who is it?" she questioned.

"Room service," the bored sounding voice on the other side of the door droned.

Throwing a questioning glance at Steve as to whether they should open the door and receiving a confirming nod, Jack moved in front of Amanda and slowly eased the door open.

The waiter pushed a cart into the room with a covered dinner for two and a basket containing a bottle of chilled champagne and glasses and selected delicacies. "The basket was left at the front desk for you," handing Amanda the card attached as he passed by her.

"How nice, sweetheart," she said. Steve nodded his head in approval as he watched Amanda playing her part to the hilt as she linked her arm through Jack's. "It reads "Best Wishes. The staff at Community General Hospital." 

Jack started to protest that they had not ordered the dinner when the man, stated "And the dinner was sent compliments of a Mr. Norman Briggs" he said addressing Jack as he pushed the cart toward the table at the far end of the suite. "And I believe he left this message for you, "Congratulations and I expect to see both of you back at work bright and early Monday morning," the man continued in his monotone, bored manner. He worked the cork out on the champagne and arranged the bottle in the ice bucket, before turning and holding his hand out in expectation of a tip.

Steve re-holstered his gun, impatiently waiting for the man to leave as Jack fumbled in his pockets for a tip before Amanda came to his rescue, pressing the tip into the waiting man's hand. 

Smiling thinly, the man nodded his thanks and silently shuffled out the door.

Walking down the hall, he muttered to himself as he opened his hand to reveal the key card he had lifted from the dresser, "They just never learn, do they?"

***

Steve entered the room next door, "Hi, Dad. They're all settled and we're all set. Now we just wait," Steve continued as he removed his tux jacket and sat down in the chair opposite Mark. "Of course, I'd feel better if we had an adjoining door," he continued on as Mark remained engrossed in the files spread out before him. "Have you found anything?" he questioned as he noticed Mark's intense concentration on the lab reports spread out before him.

"What were you saying, Steve?" Mark looked up as he realized Steve stopped talking and was looking expectantly at him.

"I asked if you found something." 

"Well, it might be nothing, but I got to thinking after reviewing these autopsy reports. Doesn't it strike you as strange that this person managed to kill 8 people and there were no defensive wounds at all on any of them?"

"Yeah, it did but we checked the lab reports and there was no drugs or anything in any of the victims blood tests that indicated they were drugged, which is why we thought the victims may have known the killer. But we've never found the common link." Steve replied.

"Exactly," Mark exclaimed. "That's what is bothering me. Look at this," he said pulling out the lab work from the second couple that had been murdered. Christina Riley had severe, debilitating rheumatoid arthritis and her blood work up for the wedding license showed positive for narcotics due to the pain medications she was taking." Continuing on, he shuffled through the stack of paperwork, "But the blood processed by the crime lab after her murder shows no narcotics in her blood work at all." 

Steve, catching on to where he was leading, leaned forward and grabbed the paperwork, lining up the eight lab reports from the crime lab, "And they were all signed by the same technician," he finished.

"Exactly," Mark finished. 

Steve grabbed the phone to call headquarters to have the lab technician brought in for questioning, "Let me call headquarters first and then we need to let Jack and Amanda know what we found out," he said.

Mark waited impatiently for Steve to finish the phone call to headquarters, trying to figure out what was going on based on Steve's comments after he filled them in.

"Uh huh…yes…no. Find out what you can on him. I'll hold." Steve sighed impatiently as he continued to remain on hold as the minutes ticked by. "Yeah. I'm still here. What did you find out? What do you know about her?" Completely frustrated, he said through clenched teeth, "Yes. I'll hold. Again." 

Mark began to ask him what he had already found out but thought better of it as he watched Steve lean back in the chair and try to rein in his temper as he waited. Several agonizing minutes later, Steve jumped to his feet and yelled into the phone in response to the information he was given, "Where is he now? Find him." 

Unable to wait any longer, "What did you find out," Mark questioned, as Steve hung up the phone and immediately dialed Jack and Amanda's room.

Waiting impatiently as the phone continued to ring, Steve replied,"The man's name is Leroy Faulkins. The only thing his supervisor knew is that he has been acting strange but said he expected that since Leroy's wife left him and then both her and her new husband mysteriously disappeared on their honeymoon six months ago. There was no evidence of foul play so it was officially listed as a missing persons case," Steve continued. 

Mark frowned, "Let me guess…Mrs. Faulkins was not Caucasian, was she?" he questioned, almost missing the nod confirming his suspicions as Steve slammed the unanswered phone down. He pulled his gun from the holster and rushed out of the room with Mark following closely behind.

***

__

(author's note: ~~Immediately after Steve left Amanda and Jack's room and while he was on the phone with headquarters~~)

Jack shut the door after Steve left. "Gee, I thought he would never leave," Jack grinned over at Amanda. "I'm starving," he said heading toward the table.

"Jack, do you mind if we wait to eat until after I call mom and check on C.J. The food should stay warm if we keep it covered," Amanda stated, reaching for the phone and dialing the number.

"Oh, sure. No problem," he assured her although his stomach growled otherwise, reminding him once again that he had been too nervous earlier in the day to eat much of anything.

He sat and briefly listened to Amanda's conversation, pouring a glass of champagne as he waited. Bored, he gulped down the remainder of the champagne, undoing the buttons of his tux shirt. Mouthing the words to Amanda so as not to interrupt her phone call, "I'm gonna take a quick shower before we eat," he said, heading into the bathroom. 

Amanda nodded as he passed by her. With her back to the bathroom door, she didn't see him grab the doorway as a wave of dizziness struck him. "Yes, Mom. No, Mom. I will, Mom," she continued on.

Shaking it off, Jack muttered to himself, "Maybe I should eat first," as another wave of dizziness, followed quickly by nausea overcame him. "Then again, maybe not," as he continued removing his shirt.

Amanda continued to listen to her mom regale her with stories of CJ's day with a gentle smile, "Listen, Mom, I hate to but I really need to go now. Yes, of course, I'll call you tomorrow. Yes, I know I don't have to worry. I love you too. Bye. Yes. No. Okay. Bye." she said laughing as she finally hung up the phone.

"Jack, are you about done?" she said approaching the partially opened bathroom door, noticing there were no sounds coming from within the room. Pushing the door gently, it refused to budge. Glancing down to see what was blocking the door, she gasped, "Oh my gosh, Jack," as she saw his body on the floor.

She was so intent on getting the bathroom door open, she did not hear the handle of room door turning.

Unable to get the bathroom door open by herself, she turned to head for the phone to call Steve and Mark when she felt a hand grab her arm, twisting it behind her, the pain forcing her to her knees. She opened her mouth to scream just as she felt the cold steel of the silencer on the man's gun pressed up against her temple.

"Shhh…," the man said, "you don't want to do that. Unless you want to die right now," he said, stroking the gun along her cheekbone. Then, twisting her arm tighter behind her back and tightening his grip on her hand as he bent it backwards, he pulled her back to her feet, muttering almost to himself, "You just never learn do you. You promise and promise you won't do it again. I swore I'd kill you if you left me."

Seeing the insane gleam in his eyes, Amanda struggled to speak over the pain, "What do you mean?" as she glanced around, gauging her chances of reaching the phone or otherwise alerting Steve and Mark. Realizing the chances were slim to none, she forced herself to ignore the pain as he continued to twist and crush her hand, desperately trying to think of another way to distract him when the phone started to ring.

Hearing the phone, Jack moaned quietly as he slowly fought his way back to consciousness. 

"Don't play dumb with me," the man hissed as he released her arm and swung the gun, striking her. Sensing her chance, she scrambled toward the ringing phone, reaching it just as it went silent. Grabbing her hair, he pulled her backwards, forcing her to the ground and cocking the revolver.

Realizing the danger Amanda was in, Jack struggled silently to his feet and lunged out the doorway, just as the door to the hotel room also burst open.

The man raised the gun from Amanda, toward Jack and fired, the impact propelling him backward into the bathroom.

"Freeze. Police." Steve commanded as he burst through the door, diving behind the chair as he saw the man raise the gun, pulling his trigger in the same instant as he realized Jack was an open target for Leroy. The man stopped with a look of surprise on his face, before sliding to the ground in a crumpled heap.

Approaching the man cautiously, he recognized him as the waiter who entered the room earlier. Steve felt for a pulse, finding none. "He's dead." 

Mark immediately rushed into the room . "Amanda, are you okay?" he said coming toward her as she knelt on the floor cradling her arm.

Fighting back tears of either pain or relief or both, she said, "Don't worry about me. Check on Jack," she ordered directing Mark toward the bathroom.

Mark rushed into the bathroom, yelling back at Steve, "We're going to need an ambulance."

"I'm on it," Steve assured him, already hanging up the phone after calling for back-up and an ambulance, then turning to help Amanda up onto the edge of the bed.

"How's Jack?" she questioned, wincing in pain but trying to get back up to help Mark.

"Amanda, sit down. Dad's taking care of Jack," Steve gently admonished her, pushing her back down. "I'll go see if he needs any help. You stay here."

Turning to help his Dad and to check on his friend, he noticed the crowd of onlookers beginning to gather, "Okay, folks, there's nothing to see here" as he herded them out the door."

Turning back around only a moment later, he shook his head, noticing Amanda was gone from the bed.

Stepping into the doorway, behind Amanda, he gently grasped her unhurt arm as he noticed her swaying slightly as she leaned over Mark as he tended the wound in Jack's shoulder. "Steve," Mark said, briefly glancing up. "Hand me some more of those towels."

Steve reached around the corner, grabbing the towels, "How is he?" he asked looking with concern at the amount of blood seeping through the towels already pressed to the wound in Jack's shoulder. 

"It went clean through which is good," Mark stated. "I'm not sure why he is unconscious though unless he hit his head when he fell," Mark observed, feeling around the back of Jack's head for any obvious signs of trauma.

Amanda gasped, "No, Mark. Jack was unconscious briefly before the bullet. I was trying to get into the bathroom to help him when all this happened."

Remembering the waiter's earlier visit, Steve questioned, "Did Jack eat anything before he went to take his shower?" 

"No," Amanda started to respond before she remembered, "Wait a minute. He drank some of the champagne."

Steve and Mark glanced at each other and nodded briefly, their theory that somehow the victims had been drugged was pretty much confirmed.

Hearing the commotion at the outside doorway, Steve turned to let in the crime scene technicians and ambulance crew, directing the technicians, "Tag that bottle as evidence and get me an analysis ASAP on what's in it," he ordered.

Mark stepped back as the paramedics arrived on scene and began treating Jack before quickly loading him on the stretcher and out the door.

***

Later that day, walking into Jack's hospital room, Mark paused, smiling as he took in the scene before him. Jack lay in the hospital bed with his arm in a sling, Amanda sat propped on the edge of the bed with her hand in a cast and Steve stood propped against the wall, his hand still bandaged from his earlier encounter with the wall. He smiled and sent a small prayer of thanks, watching as they discussed the earlier events, leading to the death of the lab technician/serial killer.

Steve glanced up, noting the direction of his father's gaze as it settled on each of their injuries in turn, "Don't even say it!" he warned with a laugh and a grin at his father.

"What?" Mark raised his arms innocently. "I wasn't going to say a word, other than I'm glad this is over."

"You and me both," Jack agreed. "Married life is more painful than I thought it was going to be," he said with a teasing glance at Amanda.

She swatted his good arm gently, "Yeah, Mister, but at least you can't say our marriage was boring," she said laughing.

Jack laughed, "Well…I don't know about that…we never did get to the honeymoon part," he teased.

Laughing, but almost with a feeling of regret she decided not to examine too closely, she replied, "And that's not something we are going to 'get' to today. You do have to admit though it was a beautiful wedding," she said wistfully.

Jack's thoughts turned to the ceremony, especially the ending kiss, "Yeah," he agreed grabbing her uninjured hand gently, "it was a beautiful wedding to a beautiful woman." Clearing his throat slightly to cover his emotions and with a teasing glance at Amanda, he turned to Mark, "So, Mark, where did you find that minister. He sure had his part down," he said trying to change the subject.

"Oh, I didn't find him," Mark answered, "Steve did."

Steve looked over at him with a shocked expression on his face, "No, Dad. That wasn't the guy I hired. I thought you hired him."

As the same thought dawned on them that the minister may have been real, with a look of panic, Mark and Steve both started, "You don't think?" before they both turned, nearly colliding with each other as they rushed out the door to check their suspicions out.

Jack and Amanda looked at each other and smiled, laughing softly as Amanda settled back and lay down next to Jack on the bed. 

"Should we tell them?" Amanda looked up and questioned him.

"Nah, maybe later," Jack said as he gently leaned over and placed a tender kiss on her forehead.

The End.


End file.
